Many years ago, when I was still working in radio, I was once pressed into service to host a weekly show called “Ask the Experts” when the regular host got sick. It was an interview show where some local “expert” on some topic or another would come in and talk about whatever it was they were an expert in for 30 minutes. That week, the guest was the director of the local sewer district. He’d just overseen a big expansion of the sewer system, so I figured it would be an easy half hour.
“So, I know you recently oversaw a big expansion of the sewer system. What specifically went into that project?” I asked. “Wider pipes,” he said. “And the good thing is a federal grant paid for it, correct?” “Yep.” “Which is good for local customers, since they didn’t have to foot the bill.” “Yep.” “And long-term, I would think that makes the area more attractive to perspective industries, with your capacity increased.” “Yep.” “Will my potty flush better now?” I didn’t actually ask that last one, but seriously, the dude gave one-word answers to almost everything I asked. I bet I asked him 50 question in 30 minutes and I was dying. I gave the phone number out A LOT, but listeners were less interested in talking to the short-answering doo doo man than you might imagine. It was, without question, the least interesting 30 minutes of radio in the history of the medium. Luckily, when it comes to the 1A state championship game, I found some experts who were a little more willing to talk and share their insight. I reached out to a couple of coaches to get their takes on how tomorrow night’s Lamar v Baptist Hill title tilt would play out. Josh Harpe is the head coach at St. John’s. His Islanders gave the Bobcats all they wanted in an early October contest before falling 50-42 to the eventual lowerstate champions. He said the biggest key for Lamar is finding a way to limit the big plays Baptist Hill QB Corey Field makes with his legs and arm. “For the Silver Foxes, their keyword is ‘contain.’ I think Corey Fields will hit some throws downfield. If Lamar can keep them from being touchdowns, that will be huge. The more they make Baptist Hill line up, the better. The Bobcats will get frustrated,” he said. Harpe said another key is to not allow what should be short gainers to turn into big plays. Baptist Hill is going to complete its share of passes with its throw-every-down, vertical attack, Lamar just needs to limit yard-after-catch. “Tackling is huge,” Harpe said. “Don’t let Baptist Hill’s play makers get in the open field. If they break a tackle or two, they’re gone.” Harpe thinks Lamar’s offense, which puts up gaudy rushing numbers and features a nice complimentary passing attack, will find success against Baptist Hill. He said his team and Cross both moved the ball up-and-down the field on the Bobcats, but hurt themselves with some penalties and turnovers. He said so long as Lamar doesn’t suffer self-inflicted wounds, they have a good chance at claiming a second state title in three years, particularly if they build a lead early. “Unless Lamar gives the game away, they should be able to win. Baptist Hill will score, but again, contain and Lamar wins in a four-quarter game,” he said. Another coach, who asked to remain anonymous, said Baptist Hill’s ability to make big plays throwing the ball down the field is very impressive. He wonders, though, if they aren’t a bit too reliant on what are often low-percentage passes for most teams. “To me, Baptist Hill is a lot like Duke basketball in the NCAA tournament. If you live by the three, you die by the three. When the threes are falling, then Duke always has a great shot to win it all, but they could go cold at any point and end up losing to a 14 seed or getting hammered once they play a good team in the Elite 8 or Final 4. Baptist Hill’s deep passing game is their version of Duke’s three-point shot,” the coach said. The coach thinks if Baptist Hill can connect on its long throws or if Lamar starts turning the ball over, the Bobcats can not only win the game, they might win it going away. There is a flip side to that coin, however. “If the deep passing game isn’t on, like when they played Cross for example, then Lamar will win this thing easily. Against Cross, Baptist Hill had lots of dropped passes and a couple of missed reads by Fields and they almost lost to them because of it. So, first thing for Baptist Hill is the deep ball has to be on, which they have a fantastic quarterback and some good play makers outside, so it’s usually on more times than not,” he said. The Baptist Hill offense rightfully gets a lot of attention, but the coach thinks Lamar’s is also very good and also cater-made to give Baptist Hill problems. “The big caveat I see for Baptist Hill is that I don’t think they have any chance of stopping Lamar on the ground. Baptist Hill just isn’t very physical on defense and that is going to cost them against what everybody says is a well-oiled machine in Lamar, so long as Lamar holds onto the ball,” he said. The coach thinks PATs could be a big factor. Lamar is very efficient in that area and Baptist Hill is not. He said he would be very happy to see a team that carries itself the way Baptist Hill does win the title…ultimately, though, he thinks the teams will trade touchdowns with the Silver Foxes emerging with a close win. Another coach who said he hasn't seen Baptist Hill but is very familiar with Lamar, said the game comes down to this...can the Silver Foxes pressure Fields with three or four, enabling them to drop seven or eight into coverage? He also wonders if the Bobcats can slow Lamar's rushing attack. Baptist Hill's receivers (and Fields) only play offense, which is very atypical in Class A. The coach wonders if that will have a negative impact in the state title game. "Can they stop Lamar not playing their best athletes on both sides of the ball? (Lamar running back) Jacquez Lucas is fast. If he gets loose, who is going to catch him?" the coach said. If only the sewer man had been as talkative…
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TravisI am Travis, the king 0f SC 1A Football Archives
November 2021
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